.jpg)
The New York-based organization said in a report Tuesday that 29.1 percent of last year's Maryland public high school graduates scored a 3 or higher on an AP exam. That compares with a national rate of 20.1 percent.
A score of 3 or higher is considered a successful test result.
The report says Maryland also made progress toward eliminating the gap in AP program participation between white and black students, the most under represented group in AP classrooms.
More
5 comments:
I guess maybe our teachers are doing something right.
Gap in PARTICIPATION is closing. Sitting in an AP class is not the same as doing well on AP tests.
This report contains gross inaccuracies, while getting only a potion of the actual facts correct.
There is actually both good and less favorable information to report; unfortunately either Associated Press or the 'reporter' at WBAL got it half wrong.
More students are taking AP courses than before. There is encouragement everywhere for districts to offer and for students to take AP courses, and later the AP exam for the course. Not all students who take a course take its exam. The number and % varies by district but it is extremely unlikely that 29% of the graduating students even take a single AP class during high school, let alone score a 3 exam.
From the group that do take an AP class a smaller number actually take an AP exam which is like a SAT exam in only one subject. It is fairly rigorous and graded on a five point scale.
The article suggests 29% of MD HS graduates scored 3 or higher on an AP exam. It's bad math. The total number of AP exams taken that scored 3 or higher is being spread over the entire group of graduates to create this impression.
Most students don't take an AP class at all. Many AP students take multiple AP courses and multiple AP exams; scores will vary.
If 10% of students take 3 AP courses, and score 3 or better on the exam we suddenly have that presented as 30% of students getting 3 or better. In fact a much smaller number(10%)achieved multiple successes while most achieved nothing regarding AP classes. So it's a misleading stat that suggests accomplishment by many when no actual effort was made.
If there were 100 graduates and the football halfback gained 1,000 yards you could say the average graduate gained 10 yards and have a similar misleading statistic.
Further, a smaller number of students take most of the AP classes, and if they take multiple exams (an exam for each AP subject) it gives the impression a larger % of the student body are taking and passing the courses and exams. It is not unusual for a strong student to be taking 2, 3 or perhaps 4 AP courses each year.
So the good news is that the achievers are actually achieving. A score of 3 or higher may result in a college giving credit to an incoming student; colleges set their own criteria. Receiving credit can reduce the time a student needs to earn a Bachelor's degree.
The bad news is that professional writers don't provide an accurate accounting of how the the statistic is compiled and what it actually represents.
"Governor Martin O'Malley noted that this is the eighth year in a row that Maryland led the nation in high scoring on AP tests.
The Governor noted that this was the eighth year in a row that Maryland led the nation in AP scores."
what a coincidence, MOM's 8 years as Gov - and it is such an accomplishment, we need to see it twice
The more you dumb the test down, the more dummies can pass it!
Post a Comment